Tesla Motors, maker of the much hyped (and well reviewed) electric Roadster is suing Fisker Automotive, the outfit behind fake vroom-y Karma, for stealing Tesla's design and trade secrets. Supposedly, this pushed the sale date for Tesla's four-door sedan, White Star, back six months, to 2010. Henrik Fisker (the eponymous founder) was hired by Tesla to design White Star. Tesla alleges he took the $875,000 contract, sabotaged Tesla's project with sub-par work, and then made off with their secrets and designs, using the money to launch his rival electric car effort.

To fill the design gap and move things along, Tesla got some of the guys at Lotus to step in and massage the body design. Man, I thought people designing green tech were out there to help people and keep us from dying in crazy "Day After Tomorrow" freak weather. Not you know, actively undermining each other for their own selfish benefit. Capitalism at its finest. [NYT]